1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of sports conditioning exercise machines, and more particularly to an exercise machine for conditioning athletes to pivot the upper body relative to the lower body by forcefully moving the hips in a roll and drive motion upwardly through a resistive weight load.
2. Background Art
In the sport of football, the most effective way to block an opposing player is to advance toward the opponent while moving horizontally in a crouched position, and upon making contact with the opponent, to exert an explosive force vertically upward on the opponent which tends to lift the opponent off the ground. The player doing the blocking must smoothly and quickly pivot the upper body relative to the lower body by forcefully moving his hips in a roll and drive motion upwardly through the weight load to accomplish the most effective and powerful blocking movement. This explosive movement employs the leg, hip, abdominal, back, arms, shoulder, and chest muscles in one explosive movement, particularly the gluteus, quadricep, and hamstring muscle areas.
A strong athlete is not necessarily a powerful athlete and strength alone will not achieve the best results on the field of play. In blocking actions, the explosive movement requires the athlete to lift a heavy resistive weight over a full range of upward movement at a high rate of speed. While an athlete may acquire strength from lifting weights, powerful blocking technique requires performing multiple sets of repetitions of the desired movement at a predetermined weight load within a predetermined number of seconds.
While there are many devices which teach the art of blocking, none of these devices promotes the mastery of, or conditions the muscles in the manner utilized in the explosive hip roll and drive motions described above. Most of the conventional blocking devices merely train a player to charge towards an object, and provide some resistance to the force exerted by the charging player.
There are several patents which disclose various exercise machines for conditioning and strengthening athletes and other apparatus particularly designed for training football players.
Brentham, U.S. Pat. No. 3,822,599 discloses an exercise device comprising a handle pivotally mounted on a frame with a hydraulic system connected to the handle to exert a regulated force restraining movement of the handle.
Telle, U.S. Pat. No. 4,357,010 discloses an exercise apparatus for developing selected muscles of the body comprising a rigid upright support having a first beam pivoted on a horizontal axis near the top of the support and a second beam similarly pivoted below the first beam. The two beams are connected by a telescopic link to move together. Handles and shoulder pads are provided for lifting the first beam and a weight holding rod on the outer end of the second beam receives a selected number of weights to be lifted. The rate of movement of the beams is maintained substantially constant by a hydraulic cylinder.
Palladino, Jr., U.S. Pat. No. 4,720,103 discloses a training device for football players to train the user in the art of blocking. The apparatus includes a frame which defines an upwardly—sloping  track, and a carriage which moves along the track. The carriage is connected by a pulley system to a hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder or the equivalent for imparting resistance to the movement of the carriage along the track.
Lundgren, U.S. Pat. No. 4,722,522 discloses an exercise machine comprising an operating bar which can be moved between operating positions at least 180 degrees apart, and a sprocket on the axis of motion carries a chain connected to a lever for exerting a near constant reaction force or torque. A bellcrank on the same axis carries weights that provide a variable force or torque on the movable bar. The user assumes one position to exercise the biceps and another position to exercise the triceps.
Fuller, Sr., U.S. Pat. No. 5,058,884 is my previous patent for an exercise machine that is particularly useful in developing the ability of an offensive or defensive lineman to smoothly and quickly pivot the upper body upwardly relative to the lower body by forcefully moving his hips in a roll and drive motion through a resistive weight load.
Fuller, Sr., U.S. Pat. No. 5,637,063 is my previous patent for an exercise machine that requires the user to pull, turn, and push, and thus rotate the upper body relative to the lower body while also pivoting the upper body upwardly relative to the lower body by forcefully moving his hips in a roll and drive motion through a resistive weight load.
The present invention is an improvement over my previous patents in that it incorporates structural elements which receive the shoulders of the user and require the user to stand or crouch on an inclined surface while forcefully moving his hips in a roll and drive motion to drive the upper body upwardly through a resistive weight load. The present machine strengthens the all of the muscle groups, and provides maximum loading of the gluteus, quadriceps, and hamstring muscle areas. The present machine also allows certain muscles to be isolated while performing exercises to strengthen the gluteus, quadriceps, and hamstring muscle areas, without stress on the knees and back.
The present invention is distinguished over the prior art in general, and these patents in particular by an exercise machine having a frame with a generally rectangular base and a platform disposed at an angle at the rearward end upon which the athlete stands. A horizontal shaft rotatably mounted on a pair of vertical frame members near the forward end of the base has an upper central sprocket at its center and smaller sprockets at its outer ends. A lower central sprocket is rotatably mounted on the base between the upright frame members. A weight support arm pivotally connected to a pair of upright frame members extends forwardly therefrom and a selected number of weights are received on the outer end thereof. An elongate lift arm pivotally connected to the vertical frame members extends angularly upward and rearward therefrom toward the platform and has a pair of shoulder pads at its outer end positioned a distance above the platform, with a first and second pair of lateral hand grips near each end of the pads for griping the bar in two positions. A first chain wrapped around the upper central sprocket extends under the lower central sprocket and has its free end connected to the lift arm and a pair of second chains each wrapped around an outer sprocket in the opposite direction have their free ends connected to the weight supporting member. When the lift arm is raised by an upward force on the shoulder pads and/or hand grips, the lift arm pivots upward pulling the first chain down causing rotation of the upper central sprocket and outer sprockets which causes the second chains to pivot the weight supporting member upward with the weights at the outer ends thereof resisting the upward force applied to the lift arm.